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Friday, July 6, 2012

Our Fourth of July Holiday

Fireworks in Bloomington

Besides Mark's birthday, the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I love being outside in the sun, grilling out, and especially watching the fireworks. What makes the fourth even that more special is it happens to also be Mark's niece's birthday AND the day before Chloe's birthday. Unfortunately because the fourth fell smack dab in the middle of the week this year and we were exhausted, we didn't make it out to Mark's parents' house with the rest of the family to celebrate. But fear not, living in a big city has many perks so we still had a great holiday.
Thanks to the help of a google search we found out that the city of Bloomington was having their fireworks show on the 3rd. So after Mark got home from work and we finished of our nightly "chores" we drove down to Bloomington to watch the fireworks.

It was ridiculously hot, as it has been all week, so I must give Mark props for sticking through it like a champ; Mark and hot weather aren't the best of buds. After we parked in one of the lots we walked around for a little while before settling on a spot to sit on the median, which turned out to have a really good view. The fireworks were amazing, the best I have ever seen. The entire show felt like the finale. Both of our favorite fireworks were the smiley face ones they let off. The only downside of the night was forgetting to bring bug spray and getting eaten alive. However, once the fireworks started we didn't seem to notice.

Aren't they pretty?

My attempts at getting a picture of us with
fireworks behind us

Part of the finale

After the show we walked back to the car and literally sat for more than 30 minutes before being able to even back out of our spot. We watched an episode of That 70's Show on Mark's iphone to help pass the time. And even though we were so tired, bitten up, and hot when we got back home I think the fireworks were worth it. (Editor's note: Agreed!)

On the actual Fourth of July we awoke to more hot weather (ended up setting a record) so we drove to Lake Calhoun to get our run and yoga over with. Since we were going to be leaving Chloe again that night to see more fireworks we thought the "good parent" thing to do was take her to the dog park and wear her out. Luckily it doesn't take much in 100 degree weather. Before going we stopped by Caribou Coffee for some iced teas to help cool us down.

Us with our teas

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out on our porch until it was time to grill out dinner. We had brats with some homemade buns that didn't turn out too well, tomato, and cheese balls (Mark was especially excited for those). Soon after it was starting to get dark and fireworks would commence. We had intially planned on going to Red, White, and Boom, but after waiting so long to get home the previous night we decided to just head over to Saint Louis Park to see the fireworks there. And while they weren't as good as the Bloomington show, some fireworks are ALWAYS better than none in my opinion. Another plus, the temperature decreased to a comfortable level.

Can't tell he is excited for CHEESE BALLS

Independence Day dinner, not picture:
more cheese balls

Laying in the grass at Aquila Park waiting for the fireworks to start

Even though we missed the birthday party out at Mark's parents' house we had a great Fourth of July at home with our little family.